Device having fool-proofing structure

ABSTRACT

A device having fool-proofing structure is configured to be inserted into a cabinet along a first direction and includes a case and an elastic sheet module. The elastic sheet module is disposed on a side of the case and includes a first end disposed on the case, a second end opposite to the first end, a first protrusion portion and a second protrusion portion. The first protrusion portion is adjacent to the second end, protrudes from the case and is configured to abut against the cabinet. The second protrusion portion is farther from the second end than the first protrusion portion, protrudes from the case, and is configured to make the second end and the first protrusion portion move toward the interior of the case as being pressed by a force.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/503,588 filed on Oct. 18, 2021, and entitled“DEVICE HAVING FOOL-PROOFING STRUCTURE AND CABINET TYPE DEVICEASSEMBLY”, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 63/197,847 entitled “BUS BAR ASSEMBLY AND FOOL-PROOF LATCH STRUCTUREFOR POWER DISTRIBUTION SHELF”, filed Jun. 7, 2021, and also claimspriority to China Patent Application No. 202111030535.X, filed on Sep.3, 2021. The entire contents of the above-mentioned applications areincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a device having fool-proofingstructure, and more particularly to a device having fool-proofingstructure that the device is stopped from entering the cabinet andconditionally proceed owing to the structure of the elastic sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a cabinet system, a power module is independently and correspondinglyinserted into a slot of a cabinet. To prevent the power module frombeing inserted into the slot with a wrong size or in a wrong direction,it was common that the cabinet and the power module have matchingstructures for realizing the fool-proofing function. Currently, thefool-proofing function is realized by concave and convex structures. Forexample, a block is disposed on a side wall of the power module, and arecess or a hollowed groove matching for the block is formed on thepartition of the slot. However, in the structure that the partition hasthe recess, owing to the recess, there is a bulge on the opposite sideof the partition, which results in the limitation of the utilization ofthe neighboring space. On the other hand, in the structure that thepartition has the hollowed groove, in order to realize the fool-proofingfunction at the beginning of inserting the power module and inconsideration of the insertion process of the power module, the lengthof the hollowed groove is almost equal to the length of the powermodule. As a result, the structural strength of the cabinet is badlyaffected.

Therefore, there is a need of providing a device having fool-proofingstructure so as to obviate the drawbacks encountered from the priorarts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a device havingfool-proofing structure for addressing the drawbacks of the prior art.

It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a devicehaving fool-proofing structure. By a first protrusion portion and asecond protrusion portion that are located on the front side and therear side of an elastic sheet module, respectively, the device can bestopped from entering the cabinet and then proceed in certain condition.In addition, by disposing a notch that is corresponding to the firstprotrusion portion on a partition of the cabinet, the second protrusionportion can contact with the partition and make the first protrusionportion detached from the notch of the partition, so that the device canbe rapidly installed in the cabinet with the fool-proofing function.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a device having fool-proofing structure. The device havingfool-proofing structure is configured to be inserted into a cabinetalong a first direction and includes a case and an elastic sheet module.The elastic sheet module is disposed on a side of the case and includesa first end, a second end, a first protrusion portion and a secondprotrusion portion. The first end is disposed on the case. The secondend is opposite to the first end. The first protrusion portion isadjacent to the second end, protrudes from the case and is configured toabut against the cabinet on the first direction. The second protrusionportion is disposed between the first end and the second end and isfarther from the second end than the first protrusion portion. Thesecond protrusion portion protrudes from the case and is configured tomake the second end and the first protrusion portion move toward theinterior of the case as being pressed by a force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above contents of the present invention will become more readilyapparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view illustrating the electronic device accordingto the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is a schematic perspective view illustrating the elastic sheetmodule of FIG. 2 and taken from a different perspective;

FIG. 3B is a side view illustrating the elastic sheet module of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating the partial structure of electronicdevice of FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the cabinet typedevice assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention will now be described more specifically withreference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that thefollowing descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention arepresented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise formdisclosed.

Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3A. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspectiveview illustrating the electronic device according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 2 is an exploded view illustrating theelectronic device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 3A is a schematic perspective view illustrating the elastic sheetmodule of FIG. 2 and taken from a different perspective. In thisembodiment, the device having fool-proofing structure is an electronicdevice 1. The device is represented by the electronic device 1 infollowing paragraphs. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3A, the electronicdevice 1 is configured to be inserted into a cabinet along a firstdirection A and includes a case 2 and an elastic sheet module 3. Theelastic sheet module 3 is disposed on a side of the case 2 and includesa first end 31, a second end 32, a first protrusion portion 33 and asecond protrusion portion 34. The first end 31 is disposed on the case2. The second end 32 is opposite to the first end 31. In thisembodiment, the first end 31 is located on the rear side of the firstdirection A, and the second end 32 is located on the front side of thefirst direction A. The first protrusion portion 33 is adjacent to thesecond end 32, protrudes from the case 2 and is configured to abutagainst the cabinet where the electronic device 1 is inserted into alongthe first direction A. The second protrusion portion 34 is disposedbetween the first end 31 and the second end 32, and is farther from thesecond end 32 than the first protrusion portion 33. The secondprotrusion portion 34 protrudes from the case 2 and is configured tomake the second end 32 and the first protrusion portion 33 move towardthe interior of the case 2 as being pressed by a force. In thisembodiment, the case 2 includes an upper case and a lower case, and thefirst end 31 is fixed on the lower case by rivets or screws, but notlimited thereto.

Please refer to FIG. 3A. In this embodiment, the elastic sheet module 3is integrally formed of a metal sheet and includes a first surface 30.The first protrusion portion 33 and the second protrusion portion 34 areextended along a direction perpendicular to the first surface 30, butnot limited thereto. In this embodiment, the first protrusion portion 33includes a stopping portion 331. A surface of the stopping portion 331is perpendicular to the first direction A, so that the stopping portion331 is capable of abutting against the cabinet and stopping the movementof the electronic device 1, but not limited thereto. In someembodiments, the stopping portion 331 of the first protrusion portion 33includes a slope or has a profile of hook, which is also capable ofabutting against the cabinet and stopping the movement of the electronicdevice 1.

Please refer to FIGS. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3B is a side view illustrating theelastic sheet module of FIG. 2 . In this embodiment, the surface of thestopping portion 331 of the first protrusion portion 33 is flush withthe second end 32, but not limited thereto. The second protrusionportion 34 includes a top portion 341, and the top portion 341 and thestopping portion 331 of the first protrusion portion 33 have a distanceD therebetween in the first direction A. When the second protrusionportion 34 is pressed toward the interior of the case 2, since the firstend 31 of the elastic sheet module 3 is fixed on the case 2, the firstprotrusion portion 33 is farther from the first end 31, and the distancethat the first protrusion portion 33 moves toward the interior of thecase 2 is longer than the distance the second protrusion portion 34moves, the first protrusion portion 33 is totally sunk into the interiorof the case 2. Therefore, when the electronic device 1 is inserted intothe cabinet, the first protrusion portion 33 located at the front sideabuts against the cabinet and stops the electronic device 1 from movingforward. Next, by pressing the second protrusion portion 34 located onthe rear side, the electronic device 1 is allowed to proceed into thecabinet.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 4 . FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating thepartial structure of electronic device of FIG. 1 . In this embodiment,the case 2 of the electronic device 1 includes an inner wall 21, a firstopening 22 and a second opening 23. The first end 31 of the elasticsheet module 3 is fixed on the inner wall 21 of the case 2. The firstprotrusion portion 33 passes through and protrudes from the firstopening 22 of the case 2. The second protrusion portion 34 passesthrough and protrudes from the second opening 23 of the case 2. In thisembodiment, a height H1 of the first protrusion portion 33 protrudingfrom the first opening 22 of the case 2 is in a range between 1.2 mm and3.2 mm, and a height H2 of the second protrusion portion 34 protrudingfrom the second opening 23 of the case 2 is in a range between 1.2 mmand 3.2 mm. In this embodiment, the height H1 of the first protrusionportion 33 is slightly higher than the height H2 of the secondprotrusion portion 34, but not limited thereto. It should be noted thatthe heights H1 and H2 of the first protrusion portion 33 and the secondprotrusion portion 34 can be individually adjusted according to thedistance D between the first protrusion portion 33 and the secondprotrusion portion 34, the thickness of the case 2, the gap between theelectronic device 1 and the cabinet, and the thickness of the partitioninside the cabinet.

Please refer to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective viewillustrating the cabinet type device assembly according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5 , the electronic device 1described above can be assembled with a cabinet 4 so as to form acabinet type device assembly 5. The cabinet 4 includes at least onepartition 41 and at least one slot 42. The partition 41 includes atleast one notch 411, and the notch 411 is correspondingly disposed on aside of the slot 42. The electronic device 1 is disposed in the slot 42.The first protrusion portion 33 of the elastic sheet module 3 of theelectronic device 1 and the notch 411 on the side of the slot 42 arecorresponding to each other in height. When the electronic device 1 isinserted into the slot 42 of the cabinet 4 along the first direction A,the first protrusion portion 33 is correspondingly accommodated in thenotch 411 of the partition 41. Thereafter, when the second protrusionportion 34 is in contact with the partition 41 of the cabinet 4 andmakes the second end 32 and the first protrusion portion 33 move towardthe interior of the case 2, the first protrusion portion 33 is detachedfrom the notch 411 of the partition 41, so that the electronic device 1can be totally inserted into the slot 42 of the cabinet 4. In thisembodiment, the electronic device 1 is a power module, but not limitedthereto.

Please refer to FIGS. 3A and 5 . In this embodiment, the secondprotrusion portion 34 includes the top portion 341 and a first extensionportion 342. The top portion 341 is the highest portion of the secondprotrusion portion 34. The first extension portion 342 includes a slope,is connected to the top portion 341 and is closer to the second end 32than the top portion 341. When the electronic device 1 is inserted intothe slot 42 of the cabinet 4 in a correct way, since the firstprotrusion portion 33 of the elastic sheet module 3 is correspondinglyaccommodated in the notch 411 of the partition 41, the second protrusionportion 34 is capable of directly contacting with the partition 41.Thereafter, the partition 41 is in contact with the second protrusionportion 34 along the slope of the first extension portion 342 togradually press the second protrusion portion 34 into the interior ofthe case 2, and is finally in contact with the top portion 341 of thesecond protrusion portion 34. Meanwhile, owing to the contact betweenthe second protrusion portion 34 and the partition 41, the firstprotrusion portion 33 is sunk into the case 2 and is totally detachedfrom the notch 411 of the partition 41, so as to allow the electronicdevice 1 to proceed into the slot 42. Therefore, when the electronicdevice 1 is inserted into the slot 42 in the correct way, owing to thefirst extension portion 342 of the second protrusion portion 34, thefirst protrusion portion 33 can be automatically detached from the notch411 during the process of inserting the electronic device 1.Consequently, the electronic device 1 can be installed into the cabinet4, rapidly and conveniently.

In this embodiment, when the electronic device 1 is inserted into theslot 42 of the cabinet 4 in a wrong way, which means the firstprotrusion portion 33 of the elastic sheet module 3 is not correspondingto the notch 411 of the partition 41, the second protrusion portion 34cannot contact with the partition 41 to make the first protrusionportion 33 sunk into the case 2. As a result, the electronic device 1 isstopped from entering the slot 42 since the first protrusion portion 33abuts against the partition 41. Therefore, by the arrangement of thefirst protrusion portion 33 and the second protrusion portion 34 of theelastic sheet module 3 and the notch 411 of the cabinet 4, theelectronic device 1 is prevented from being inserted into the slot 42 inthe wrong way. Consequently, the fool-proofing function is effectivelyrealized.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the second protrusion portion 34further includes a second extension portion 343. The second extensionportion 343 includes a slope. The first extension portion 342 and thesecond extension portion 343 are symmetrical and disposed on twoopposite sides of the top portion 341, respectively. In this embodiment,the first protrusion portion 33 further includes a third extensionportion 332, and the third extension portion 332 also includes a slope.The slope of the third extension portion 332 of the first protrusionportion 33 is parallel to the slope of the second extension portion 343of the second protrusion portion 34, but not limited thereto. In thisembodiment, the first protrusion portion 33 has a profile of a righttriangle, and the second protrusion portion 34 has a profile of anisosceles triangle, but not limited thereto. In some embodiments, thefirst protrusion portion 33 has a profile similar to a sector, and thesecond protrusion portion 34 has a profile of a semicircle. That is, theprofiles of the first extension portion 342 and the second extensionportion 343 of the second protrusion portion 34 and the third extensionportion 332 of the first protrusion portion 33 are arcs. Consequently,the structural strength of the elastic sheet module 3 is enhanced. Thefirst protrusion portion 33 and the second protrusion portion 34 areprevented from damage resulting from colliding with the partition 41. Inaddition, the manufacturing cost of the elastic sheet module 3 can bereduced.

Please refer to FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, the cabinet type deviceassembly 5 includes a plurality of electronic devices 1. The cabinet 4includes a plurality of partitions 41 and a plurality of slots 42. Oneof the electronic devices 1 is adjacent to another electronic device 1by the side of the case 2 where the elastic sheet module 3 is disposed.It should be noted that since the elastic sheet module 3 can be sunkinto the interior of the case 2, the problem of reducing the utilizationof the neighboring space, which is due to the recess of the prior art,is addressed. Furthermore, the influence on the structural strength ofthe cabinet can also be reduced. Consequently, the electronic devices 1can be stacked vertically or be arranged side-by-side in the cabinet 4without affecting the space utilization and the structural strength ofthe cabinet 4.

Please refer to FIGS. 3B and 5 . In this embodiment, the stoppingportion 331 is configured to abut against the partition 41. Accordingly,a length of the notch 411 of the partition 41 is larger than or equal tothe distance D between the top portion 341 of the second protrusionportion 34 and the stopping portion 331 of the first protrusion portion33 of the electronic device 1. Therefore, the first protrusion portion33 can be sunk into the interior of the case 2 before contacting withthe partition 41. In addition, a length L of the first protrusionportion 33 is equal to the distance D between the top portion 341 of thesecond protrusion portion 34 and the stopping portion 331 of the firstprotrusion portion 33, but not limited thereto. In this embodiment, adistance between the notch 411 and a top surface of the slot 42 isunequal to a distance between the notch 411 and a bottom surface of theslot 42. In other words, the notch 411 is not disposed at a middleheight of the slot 42. Thereby, the electronic device 1 is preventedfrom being inserted into the slot 42 of the cabinet 4 in an upside-downway.

From the above descriptions, the present disclosure provides a devicehaving fool-proofing structure and a cabinet type device assembly. Bythe first protrusion portion and the second protrusion portion, whichare located on the front side and the rear side of the elastic sheetmodule, respectively, the device can be stopped from entering thecabinet and then proceed as the second protrusion portion is pressed. Onthe other hand, by the notch of the cabinet which is corresponding tothe first protrusion portion, the second protrusion portion can directlycontact with the partition and make the first protrusion portiondetached from the notch of the partition, so that the device can bequickly installed into the cabinet in the correct way. Furthermore,owing to the elastic sheet module of the device, it is beneficial toarrange the devices side-by-side without reducing the space utilizationand the structural strength of the cabinet.

While the disclosure has been described in terms of what is presentlyconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is tobe understood that the disclosure needs not be limited to the disclosedembodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device having fool-proofing structure arranged to be inserted into a cabinet along a first direction and comprising a case and an elastic sheet module, wherein the elastic sheet module is disposed on a side of the case and comprises: a first end disposed on the case; a second end opposite to the first end; a first protrusion portion comprising a stopping portion, wherein the first protrusion portion is adjacent to the second end, and protrudes from the case and abuts against the cabinet on the first direction; and a second protrusion portion comprising a top portion, a first extension portion and a second extension portion, wherein the first extension portion and the second extension portion are disposed on two opposite sides of the top portion and respectively includes a slope connecting to the top portion, and the top portion of the second protrusion portion and the stopping portion of the first protrusion portion have a distance therebetween in the first direction, and the second protrusion portion is disposed between the first end and the second end and farther from the second end than the first protrusion portion, and protrudes from the case, when the second protrusion portion is pressed by a force, the second end and the first protrusion portion move toward the interior of the case.
 2. The device having fool-proofing structure according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the stopping portion is perpendicular to the first direction.
 3. The device having fool-proofing structure according to claim 2, wherein the surface of the stopping portion of the first protrusion portion is flush with the second end.
 4. The device having fool-proofing structure according to claim 1, wherein the elastic sheet module is integrally formed of a metal sheet.
 5. The device having fool-proofing structure according to claim 1, wherein the case comprises an inner wall, a first opening and a second opening, wherein the first end of the elastic sheet module is fixed on the inner wall of the case, the first protrusion portion passes through and protrudes from the first opening of the case, and the second protrusion portion passes through and protrudes from the second opening of the case.
 6. The device having fool-proofing structure according to claim 1, wherein a height of the first protrusion portion protruding from the case is in a range between 1.2 mm and 3.2 mm, and a height of the second protrusion portion protruding from the case is in a range between 1.2 mm and 3.2 mm. 